Page:A handbook of the Cornish language; Chiefly in its latest stages with some account of its history and literature.djvu/102

Rh Prayer-book, "O God, the Father of Heaven "); dên a Gernow, a man of Cornwall.

c. Quantity. Words denoting number, quantity, etc., generally adjectives or numerals, may be followed by this form of genitive. Thus:—


 * lên a 'ras, full of grace.
 * lower a ŷs, plenty of corn.
 * milyow a bensow, thousands of pounds.

4. The genitive of material is rather the use of a noun as an adjective. It differs from the appositional genitive in that the first noun may have the article before it, and the second does not, and that if the first noun be feminine singular, the initial of the second noun is in the second state. Thus:—


 * tolyer predn, a platter of wood.
 * tre bredn, a town of wood.

The accusative or objective is usually the same as the nominative, but it is to be remembered that there are a certain number of verbs which in English are followed directly by an accusative, but in Cornish require the intervention of a preposition.

The vocative is preceded by a, which signifies O, or by a personal pronoun. The initial after a and sometimes after the pronoun changes to the second state. Thus:—


 * mab, son; a vab, O son.
 * benen, woman; a venen, O woman; tî venen, thou woman.
 * why princis (Res. Dom., iii. 1 24), ye princes.

4.

There are seven ways of forming the plural of nouns.

1. In ow or yow (pronounced o or yo). This is the commonest form, and would naturally be used for most